RD303 - The Virginia Report 2012


Executive Summary:
This report was prepared pursuant to § 2.2-2686 of the Code of Virginia, which requires the Council on Virginia’s Future to:

“develop and submit annually to the General Assembly and the Governor and publish to the public a balanced accountability scorecard containing an assessment of:

• current service performance,
• productivity improvement, and
• progress against long-term objectives.”

This report describes Virginia Performs, a performance leadership and accountability system, and presents a high-level assessment of Virginia’s progress in areas that are important to its quality of life. It is issued annually to help track progress over time, highlight challenges, and provide analytic information for leadership and decision-making.

The main report consists of four chapters: A brief profile of Virginia, an assessment of Virginia’s recent progress, a chapter on Virginia’s regions, and a brief discussion of the Council’s areas of emphasis during 2012.

Chapter I, "A Profile of Virginia," provides a brief snapshot of the Commonwealth.

Chapter II, "How Is Virginia Doing?," examines the progress being made toward long-term goals for both Virginia and its state government.

Chapter III, "A Regional Perspective," provides a discussion of selected regional indicators, as well as detailed comparisons of each region’s performance.

Chapter IV, "Council Areas of Emphasis," includes a brief introduction to the Council on Virginia’s Future and a summary of Council accomplishments for the year. Specific items covered briefly in this chapter include:

• Assessing Workforce Quality provides an introduction and overview of a Council initiative to help workforce leaders develop a Workforce System Report Card, an important step in a longer-term effort to improve the assessment of workforce quality in Virginia.

• Enterprise Strategic Priorities represent an important step in the ongoing evolution of Virginia Performs and capture the key initiatives of the Governor and his cabinet. Capturing these high-level priorities and related strategies ensures their integration into the system and enables agency leaders to incorporate the highest priorities of government directly into their plans.

In addition, all levels of Virginia Performs continue to be updated and improved. For instance, societal-level data are updated as new information becomes available, and new measures and links are added when they can help improve assessment. Finally, agencies are now using the new Performance Budgeting System for strategic planning and performance reporting. More information on these and other improvements and initiatives will be provided in the Council’s Annual Executive Summary, to be published in December 2012.